Planning meals every week can feel like a lot of work—even more work if you have diabetes. The good news? The foods recommended for people with diabetes are healthy foods recommended to everyone—adults and kids alike. So you don’t, and I repeat do not, need to cook multiple dinners every night even if not everyone in your family has diabetes.
When coming up with meal ideas, use the MyPlate (aka Healthy Eating Plate) as a framework for making your meals. Make half your plate vegetables, one-quarter protein and one-quarter whole grains. Add moderate amounts of healthy fats like avocados, olive oil and nuts. Get more ideas for building ahealthy diabetes-friendly plate.
This could look like salmon with roasted vegetables and quinoa, or it could be a mixed dish like pasta or soup. The key is that you have twice as many vegetables as grain or starch—crucial if you have diabetes and need to keep your carbohydrates in check. Keep in mind that potatoes, corn and peas are starchy vegetables; they have more carbohydrates than nonstarchy vegetables like broccoli and green beans. For this reason, they technically go in the grain category when you’re building your plate (seehow many carbs are in your vegetables).
The plate method is a nice guide, but it’s still important to know how many carbohydrates you should be aiming for at meals and snacks so ask your doctor or dietitian to tell you how many grams to eat so you can plan your meals and snacks accordingly.
Now that you have a framework and know your carb counts, it’s time to figure out how to plan your meals. Here we give you tips for how to plan, how to shop, easy-assembly meal ideas and how to cut back on food waste.
Get the family involved
If you’re feeding a family, sit your kids and partner down and have them help you come up with their favorite meals, such as tacos, pasta or pizza (all of which can fit on a diabetes diet). When kids help plan meals, they’re more likely to eat them. Make a list of 10 to 12 favorite meals you can rotate throughout the month.
Not cooking for kids? Do the same thing. Come up with 10 to 12 go-to meals you can rotate so it’s easier to stay consistent.
Have themed dinners
Pictured recipe:Baked Fish Tacos with Avocado
Having a themed dinner for even just one night a week can help make meal planning super simple. For example, Taco Tuesday. You can rotate different types of tacos for variety—e.g., fish, chicken, beef, veggie, tofu or shrimp. Make extra and you’ll have lunch for Wednesday too.
Tacos can fit the Healthy Plate when you load them up with veggies like tomatoes, lettuce and avocado. Tortillas, rice, beans, corn and chips all have carbohydrates, so choose one based on what you’re craving and your carb counts. Pair it with protein and healthy fat like avocado for a balanced meal.
Other theme ideas areMeatless Monday,Fish Fridays, or choosing one night a week that you have pasta, pizza or salad.
Prepping and cooking
Dinners fall roughly into three categories—make-ahead, cook the night of, or throw together last-minute. All can be diabetes-friendly meals. Most people find it easy to plan ahead for 2 or 3 meals each week, throw together 1 or 2 meals (e.g., anomelet with veggiesor a frozen veggie burger in a whole-wheat pita with leafy greens) and eat out or get takeout 1 or 2 times per week.
Here’s how to make it work for you:
Grocery shopping list for diabetes meal planning
You’ll need to make a list each week based on the meals you’ve picked out. Here are some staples that are nice to have on hand in addition to specific vegetables, fruits and ingredients you’ll need for your dinners.
Healthy convenience foods to grab
Prepping is ideal (and can save you some money) but life happens. Here’s a list of diabetes-friendly foods you can pick up last-minute. Keep the Healthy Plate framework in mind when assembling these for dinner: ½ vegetables, ¼ protein, ¼ whole grain.
Proteins:
Vegetables:
Dressings/sauces:
Meal-prep ideas
Outside of recipes,here are some easy food ideas to prep and use throughout the week:
Meal ideas for families with different preferences
Pictured recipe:Trapanese Pesto Pasta & Zoodles with Salmon
These ideas allow you to make meals that can be assembled so each family member can enjoy the same meal, give or take a few foods. Here are some of our favorite assembly meals.
1. Pasta
Choose whole-wheat noodles, chickpea pasta,spaghetti squashorzoodlesfor fewer carbohydrates. Then buy beef, chicken and frozen vegetarian meatballs. Sauté veggies like tomatoes, spinach or kale, mushrooms, onions and garlic. Everyone can then assemble their own meal, choosing the noodle and protein of choice and topping with the cooked veggies and sauce of choice—pesto or tomato sauce.
2. Tacos
Cook chicken, beef or tofu for protein. Family members can choose a whole-wheat or corn tortilla or make a taco salad. Serve cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, jalapeños and avocados family-style.
3. Pizza
Cook one traditional crust and one cauliflower crust and let the family help you top the pizzas with proteins and veggies of their choice.
4. Buddha Bowls
Serve similarly to tacos. Pick one grain each week, switching between quinoa, farro, barley or another whole grain of choice.
Choose meat or tofu for protein and serve a variety of different vegetables, toppings and dressings. Leftovers can be used for other dinners or turned into lunches for the next day.
5. Sandwiches / Wraps / Pitas
Have a sandwich, wrap or pita for dinner. Add tuna, beans, chicken sausage or eggs for protein, and add plenty of vegetables of choice. Use hummus, mashed avocado or plain Greek yogurt as spreads. To reduce carbohydrates, skip the bread or wrap, eat an open-face sandwich or use lettuce as a wrap instead.
How to cut back on waste and save money
No one wants to go grocery shopping and then see their money get thrown away if things didn’t go according to plan. Here are our best tips for helping you cut down on food waste and save money.
Bottom Line
When you’re eating to help manage your diabetes, whether its Type 2 Diabetes or another diagnosis, meals don’t have to be fancy. Have an omelet for dinner. Or a sandwich. Just make sure to follow the Healthy Plate framework, making at least half your plate veggies or having twice as many vegetables as your grain portion. Make a list of meals your family loves, and block time to choose, cook and prep meals. Use one protein and one grain multiple ways throughout the week and if you can’t roast vegetables, buy produce that’s easy to eat raw, like carrots. Always keep your pantry and freezer full of foods that will last several weeks or months so you can throw together a healthy meal last-minute. Remember, you can do it!
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